Mark Zuckerberg has dismissed the allegations that Fake news published on Facebook affected US election results. Responding on the sidelines of Technonomy technology trends conference in California, Zuckerberg confirmed the presence of fake news in very small amount of content.
However, he revealed that they cannot be in any way influence the voters and thereby paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump. He is of opinion that it is a pretty crazy idea to think that Fake News contributed to the US election results.
Hoax stories with one candidate but why not others
Meanwhile, the Facebook CEO asked why voters would think there would be hoax stories about one particular candidate but not others. Zuckerberg said that voters make decisions based on the past experiences of the ruling parties.
The voters evaluate the performance of the elected representatives before casting the vote. Hence, if a popular candidate is lost then it doesn’t mean it’s because of fake news.
YOU DON’T GENERALLY GO WRONG WHEN YOU TRUST THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY CARE ABOUT AND WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO THEM AND YOU BUILD SYSTEMS THAT REFLECT THAT.
In his speech, Zuckerberg disclosed that the research work done at Facebook signals news-filter bubbles are not a problem. During the study, Facebook found that people may have a lot of friends very much like themselves. Moreover, everyone at Facebook has someone in their mix that breaks the mold in some way. This is done either through religion, ethnicity, or background.
Facebook also found that users will not click on any links or shared stories that are irrelevant to them. This means users will only click links which impress them according to their taste and preferences.
Zuckerberg also said that elections once in four years make a real difference in the world. However, it would not be correct suggest that it changes the fundamental arc of technology or progress over time.
